TEST DRIVE MEME ⚔️️ 8

[avalonmods]

✨ Greet new players on the OOC intro while apps are processed HERE! ✨

{ QUICK NAV } Premise ⚔️️ Rules ⚔️️ FAQ ⚔️️ Taken ⚔️️ Reserves ⚔️️ Apply ⚔️️ Locations ⚔️️ Bestiary ⚔️️ Top-Levels Only ⚔️️ SUMMARY: New arrivals drop into the lake and have to climb up a cliff to the Rent a Ride, where they are given their device and some headphones and can retrieve their personal materials. They travel to Camelot, which is a multiple day journey, so they stop at the Red Springs along the way and stay at an inn there. A ⦿ Soaking in Your Arrival KERPLUNK, SPLASH! Regardless of what you were in the middle of, you and your familiar have been magically pulled into the world of Avalon just above the Bay's waters. After a brief plunge into the Bay, the rush of water filling your ears and soaking up into every creak and crevice of your body, you may need to cough to clear your airways when you rise above the surface. It's still chilly, but not enough that you can't manage on your own. The Lady of the Lake is swimming around under the water, helping to rescue any wayward travelers who look like they're struggling in the water. This month's helpers are giant pillow jellies, a species of jellyfish that is capable of ballooning itself at the surface to create bouncy pads for characters to hop across to the shore, should they choose or not be able to swim. They come in a variety of bioluminescent colors, but do not seem to be very talkative even to animal magic users. Those who try may find themselves being ignored, even if they hear the jellies talking amongst themselves about this and that. If anyone tries to ask the Lady of the Lake for directions, she will direct you to Archimedes at the Rent-a-Ride. The shores themselves are littered with new arrivals complaining their way up a staircase carved into the walls of the White Cliffs. There is no railing, so be careful, but if you do fall, be prepared for a mysterious sand hand to reach out of the side of the cliffs to catch you. The hand will pat you atop the head twice before retreating back into the wall. This is the Cliff Beast; despite the name, he is quite friendly. (Though.. given how hot and muggy the weather is this first week, maybe you might want to ask him to toss you right back into the lake where the waters are still cool.) *Reminder: Your character's familiar may or may not be with your character in their initial plunge. If the familiar isn't partial to water, it may meet your character on the beach or sit atop their head while they swim. Or if they are, they might splash about and swim alongside your character. Familiars have different personalities and body specs and we leave those up to the players. B ⦿ The Caravan to Camelot Once everyone is wrangled up to the top of the White Cliffs, the handsome owner of the Rent-a-Ride, Archimedes, will distribute smart phones and a pair of ear buds (the supplier was out of the regular ones) and tell them to "Check the Shit Box." The "Shit Box" refers to wardrobe more formally known as the Wardrobe of Finding, a hammerspace-like wardrobe that opens to each person's items and pets when the person touches the handle. It was recently enchanted by Merlin to prevent people from having to fish their waterlogged possessions and pets out of the water with them. From there, Archimedes directs everyone to settle in groups into modernized carriages pulled by horses and gives them a basic explanation of why and how they've been brought to Avalon: The rest of the universe is frozen in time and your character has been brought here by a familiar that was able to bond with them. They'll have to learn magic to help save their own world from destruction, but first they've got to get them to Camelot. It is here that you have the first opportunity to decide who they will be in their new home. You'll have about an hour to wander around here, meet and greet, and pet the horses before it's time to go. These carriages use fae technology that combats weight, so your character will be able to get in regardless of whether they're light as a feather or weigh two tons. The carts have air conditioning when it's hot, heating when it's cold, and a mystical shield to protect from bugs. There is also a mini-bar that pops out of the console with nip bottles. Characters can use their smartphones to connect to Camelot's internet service, avalononline (AOL), to chat with other characters, watch dumb videos, learn about the world, contact Camelot Support (they'll answer any questions they can for you, from how to use a smart phone to where to find quests and resources to learn more about your magic). Be careful if you decide to use your phones while in the caravan-- if you don't use those earbuds and start forcing everyone to listen to your nonsense, Archimedes may make you walk. C ⦿ The Red Spring The journey from the White Cliffs to the City of Camelot is a long one, and the first evening you arrive you'll end up spending at the Red Spring, a booming resort town. Because of the volume of new arrivals and vacationers, inn rooms are assigned two-to-a-room. The rooms have two twin beds, a bathroom, a mini-fridge and microwave, and a TV equipped with a couple of entertaining video games and a few free movies. If you don't want to relax in the room, try taking a dip in the spring for another chance to meet your fellow travelers. The waters have restorative properties that help horses and travelers recover quickly when drunk. It is known to relieve stress, improve energy levels, and mildly accelerate healing. It may be a little chilly when you get out though, so make sure you don't slip rushing back indoors when you get out! The springs are also home to a large training grounds just outside town limits, where there are teachers who will teach basic magic safety and help you discover what kind of magic you have together with other new arrivals. Try target practice, obstacle courses, meditation circles, and other ways to try to figure out just what you can do... if you didn't already have an accidental discovery on the ride there. SUMMARY: Merlin has a Plan B in case Camelot failed the trials: raise a sunken ship and offer it to the Elphame Traders on their way out in exchange for permission to travel their waters. Characters prepare for ritual magic to raise a sunken ship and travel underwater at the empty Camelot docks to gather ritual ingredients for it. After they've done all they can, Merlin sets up a little beach party with a bit of master magic for anyone who came along for the trip. After arriving, people may have heard about recent events-- the people of Camelot voted against war and to instead accept the trials of the people of Celliwig. The trials are now concluded, and a good number of people are emotionally exhausted and taking time to recover. Word from Celliwig has not yet arrived, but across multiple social media platforms, including AOL, there are clips of Merlin's cryptic addendum to Arthur's announcement along with notes that the meeting date was delayed a couple of days due to the awful weather and a need to rest after how bleak the trials were to some people. With people down and out, it won't hurt to have the new arrivals pitch in and learn a thing or two. "Lucky me, we've got a decent group. Celliwig's out of our hands now, but what isn't is a back-up plan. Vote was close enough I figured we'd have enough people to get a head start. Celliwig is closer and much less dangerous to deal with, we'd be able to communicate much faster with the faeries' queendom. They're not big on internet. Big followers of the Old Ways. T-L-D-R, we can't just text the queen and ask if drop-bys are on the table. We'd never make it past the leviathans without permission, so here's the plan: There is a... fixer-upper of a vessel sunken about a hundred yards from shore tossed out from Bermuda. We tried to build docks here forever ago, but you can guess the Bermuda triangle spitting out stuff in the lake all the time didn't go great. We just keep it up for visitors now, but there's plenty to explore in the immediate area that we can magic back into business." A ⦿ Shipwreckers He goes on to explain that the fairies value items that were once lost and refound, so step one is exploring the shipwreck with fellow magic users to find what amounts to a scavenger hunt list of items from the ship. He sets everyone off with a quick spell that essentially transforms their clothing into swimsuits that best fit their preferences and personality-- that means no one's going to get a swimsuit that makes them horribly uncomfortable, he's not harassing anyone. After that, magicians will be directed to use their magic to get down to the ship. It's not as convenient as underwater breathing and not as easily sustainable, but there's definitely different ways to go about it. Light magic users will find they can create a forcefield above the surface of the water and go under the water, though they may run out of oxygen quickly. Elemental users can find they can create a similar bubble by pushing water out of the way, though may run into the same diminishing air without a more advanced elemental user already in the game who can pull oxygen out of the water or an alchemist who can create chemical reactions to generate oxygen. Animal mages may be able to convince local lake life to help push bubbles along, and healers will be instrumental in healing oxygen deprivation if anyone stays under too long! (Note: If two characters can't create a bubble, you can put in a third NPC to do the bubble while your characters handle other roles during the search.) No matter what, make sure you bring someone who can watch your back. Rumors have it that the Fuath are harassing anything that comes near the area. Fuath are intangible spirits that may present as giant humanoids at about 8-9 feet each, but with the mane and tail of a yellow horse, with no noses and keen eyes. They hold grudges against anyone who takes advantage of their surroundings, even if not their own, and will come to attempt to throw those who try to take from the ships and flying through the air to land somewhere else in the water. Be very cautious about using names around the Fuath, as though they do not speak in human tongue, they have a particular ability to draw people and animals in using names that makes them very difficult to escape once you've been found. They've been known to turn familiars against their partners. They can be deterred, dissipated through attack to buy you time, but they'll keep coming so get in and out of the ship as fast as you can and definitely stick to more combat-heavy magics like dark and cognitive mages! *Note: These magics are all examples of ways to use primary magic, but feel free to get creative with your character's magic if you think of something else! B ⦿ Hoist the Flags Once all the ingredients are gathered, the ritual is underway! With the mementos from the ship, swim to a protective circle formed at the top of the water by Merlin that will keep the Fuath out. There, you need to take whatever item you gathered from the ship and try to find someone with a similar item. This "sister" item will allow you to pull the essence of the item up from the ship. It takes a load of people to raise a whole ship, but pouring your magic into the item and chanting the spell will cause the ship to resurface and restore itself to its original state before the crash, using residual memories from all the different items on the ship. Of course, finding a partner with a matching item while swimming around could be a challenge, especially if you don't get along-- it may take a while for everyone to get on the same page. It certainly won't clean up all the algae and kelp and wayward flopping fish, it brings the ship back to a livable state.. and a much cooler, more explorable one. Get a quick exploration of the ship and help clean up some of the lake slime before Merlin flags over the traders. Or goof around until then, and learn a sick free spell called (Recipe) Cool Firework: create a rocket firework from your fingertips. Make sure you're aiming it into the sky when you cast this spell, or Merlin will set off a Camelot totem right beneath your feet. No sinking the ship when they just got it up. The fireworks will attract the Elphame Traders, who are leaving the day after they close up shop to head back to Elphame, before the set out to leave. Merlin negotiates offering the ship to them as an offering for Queen Elphame to give them permission to travel in the Elphame territory. At that point, the ship is pulled into the docks and Camelot citizens are ushered out for the fae traders to take over the ship. C ⦿ Beach Episode Once everything's said and done it.. really only took a couple of hours, so the whole group is done around 4pm. There's plenty of time left for dinner and a good time at the beach a short walk away from the docks and the sun doesn't go down until around 9pm. Before Merlin leaves everyone to themselves, he conjures up a buffet-style table with loads of fresh food and drink, watermelons and bats for smashing. The swimsuits provided earlier wear off at midnight, though you'll probably want to leave before then since it still gets chilly in the evening, especially if you're all wet from playing with the chest full of waterguns or the beach balls distributed around the beach. The docks are nearby, so feel free to call your friends over to come hang out with you, even if they didn't help. It's a beach party, enjoy it! SUMMARY: Unseelie faeries and unseemly humans have teamed up to kidnap a small number of otherworlders in the chaos of the trials to fight in an underground fight ring. Play as a victim or be part of the squad to put an end to it if you're more good-leaning, or villains can choose to participate as audience and pay for "gifts" to be given to their favorite fighters during matches. CW: These prompts contain kidnapping, illegal and forced fighting, and inhumane treatment of fighters. Just because people are tired doesn't mean that the world stops for them... crime certainly doesn't. Throughout the start of the month, people are going missing. Exactly what's happening.. well, finding the truth out about that is going to depend on your perspective. A ⦿ Cursed Kidnapees Kidnapping victims will find themselves suddenly blinded by a spell, and then chloroformed by a floating cloth pressed against their face. (Smart kidnappers don't touch their victims if they have magic, you know!) When they wake up, they'll find themselves in a dungeon with at least a dozen other people. There's definitely not room to lay down, and sitting down as you had been propped up immediately starts you with a potentially uncomfortable view. Don't worry, someone's peeks in from a window at the top of the room-- an extremely handsome-looking man with long, wavy hair and pupils slitted like a cat's. "Let's see.. You two, you'll be the first fight of the night. Winner gets dinner, gyahaha!" It's a fighting ring. You've been kidnapped into a fighting ring and there's no obvious escape! Fight against fellow captives and monsters for your dinner and to buy time to figure out what you're going to do... At least you start hand to hand, so there's nothing lethal... right? (See Audience for more details.) B ⦿ Audacious Audience Maybe you're a less scrupulous sort and saw an invitation to this event hidden on the dark web, or got invited by a particularly sketchy friend. Either way, you've got cage-side seats close enough to chat with either fellow audience members or interact with the cage fighters. As a bonus point, audience members can spend some of their G on betting or on purchasing "boons" for their favorite fighters, such as weapons or enhancement spells. They can also bid against other audience members for special sabotages that make it harder to fight-- foot weights, strange masks, roller skates, hinderance hexes.. get creative with it! It's the biggest fight show that you can interact with your wallet... newbies may find it's a very lucrative way to make a pretty penny very fast. (As always, remember to communicate with anyone you're helping/sabotaging so you don't go past anyone's OOC comfort level.) C ⦿ Roaring Rescuers Thankfully, the fae who want nothing more than to sow discord and the greedy humans who joined in their venture are a bit disorganized. Even the beginning-level heroes among us will be able to track them down and topple them with a little bar hopping to gather information from the locals. Eventually, one of them will give up having overheard some "scary looking fellows" talking about which of the patrons of the bar looked like they'd be good in a fight before getting extra hush-hush. Follow all the leads, and you'll find yourself at an outlying, smaller-scale castle with a dungeon tower and an underground fighting ring built beneath its floors. Sneak in and unlock individual fighter dungeon doors while the fights are providing a wealth of distraction. Maybe you'll find a grateful Fogueria who casts a temporary fire-immunity spell on you to allow you to do ride them into battle to bust up the fight going on right now. There's definitely gratitude going on, regardless of moral compass, and you may find gifts of food and drink (non-alcoholic if you're not old enough) placed at your door over the next week for your deeds. MOD NOTES: • All test drive prompts are open to anyone in the game at any time to create your own logs with, but this post should have top-levels by potential new characters only. Current characters may reply to any threads, but should not top-level comment on this post. • If your application is accepted, you may accept TDM threads as game canon as long as both players consent. Characters may begin threading as soon as their journal is accepted to the communities. • We are testing out formats for key points displays, to be voted on for player preference based on what seems to work best for the most people. The other options were used here (end of post summary format) and here (start of post preview format). The format featured on this post is the last option, which will provide small summaries under the banner of each prompt set. A poll will be put up before the next event to see which format will be used going forward, so please keep in the back of your mind which seems most comfortable/makes the content more easily accessible. •If nothing here tickles your fancy, try one of this month's Quests for your TDM prompt. • The first "Arrival" prompts are present on every TDM, but contain seasonal tweaks for flavor. All other prompts will change monthly. • Questions about this TDM's content? Comment here! If you have a question about the game at-large, please head over to the FAQ.

Comments

[breakingvoice]

"It's nice to meet you, Claire!" she says, glad to have something to take her mind off of any evil plants. Shadow plants. She could talk a lot about how terrible an idea that is, but she won't! And so it's fine. Everything is fine. She's actually doing pretty well—despite definitely not being dressed for the occasion, she's not too banged up or anything.

"You can call me Two. Or, um, Lady Two, but I guess that you're not one of my subjects," she reconsiders, "So Two is just fine. Oh! What do you think of the lord of this place? Is he treating you well?"

[cameprepared]

"Two. Okay. Yeah, I...think I'll skip the title, and ask that you do the same with me. I'm actually Dame Redfield here, but I'm not really used to that. Still prefer Claire."

Rolling her shoulder, she looks off into the distance towards the castle, and Camelot proper.

"Arthur knighted me last month. He's treating me well enough, I think. He's a good man, and a good king. He's been doing what he can to make all of this right."

[breakingvoice]

"Ah!" She might not have had nearly as much authority here, but she at least still knew how to be polite, and she took a knee extremely quickly out of respect. As she rose, she realized that she'd just been told that Claire didn't actually prefer the title, but hopefully if she went quickly enough it would go unnoticed. (Like that was possible.)

"Well, I'm glad he's treating everyone here well. I might have a little experience in taking care of lords who don't treat their subjects well. What else are they supposed to be good for if they don't take care of their own?" Two had some pretty strong opinions on monarchy, but really the important part was yet to come. "He's making sure you all get good food on the table, right? You can't do anything with an empty stomach.

[cameprepared]

"Hey...don't..." Claire starts, offering Two a hand up before she realizes it's quick and she's already standing back up. Spots of pink bloom in her cheeks, but she retracts her hand and continues on like nothing weird happened. Easier that way.

"Yes. He's doing his level best. I...actually, do you come from a world without legends of King Arthur?"

It's a real question. Maybe outlandish, but she's learned that there a lot of worlds where Arthurian myth exists, and others that don't. So, maybe it's reasonable to ask, figure out what Two might need catching up on, and what she might already know.

[breakingvoice]

"Legends?" She cocked her head and tried to think back, but honestly, she'd only been around for a couple of years and she hadn't dug too deeply into the history of her world. At least, not in that sense.

"I don't think so. I don't remember anything like that. As far as I know, before my sisters and I came along, the Lords were just in power and had been for... oh, nearly a thousand years. And I don't think any of them were named Arthur. Is he kind of a big deal?" she asked with a curious little laugh.

[cameprepared]

"Oh. Very. The Once and Future King of England. Let's sit, it's a bit of a story."

Claire laughs, waving Two over towards a bench and giving her another one of those appraising glances. The outfit was beginning to be a little...distracting. Not at all in a bad way, but it was so outlandish compared to what she was used to that she couldn't help it. She does her best not to stare. Mostly.

"...Also, aren't you cold? Or...I guess dressed for the beach?"

[breakingvoice]

Two was absolutely not concerned with people staring, least of all Claire. She was comfortable with it and happily married (back home, at least), and this was just what made her feel good to wear. The question almost took her by surprise once they sat down. "Oh, um. The desert, maybe. Back at home, I was the new Lady of the Land of Sands! Nothing but desert and harsh sunlight and ruined temples as far as the eye can see."

And yet, she was still speaking like she was proud of it. "It's not much, but it's home to me. And if I tried to wear those heavy robes like some of the wizards or necromancers, I'd sweat myself into a puddle!" She laughed, leaning forward a little in interest and for no other reason. "So tell me more about this once and future king."

[cameprepared]

"I suppose you would at that. Different climate here though."

And different sensibilities. Not that Claire is complaining. It's a good view, and she's going to enjoy it if there's no objections. Plus it makes sense, sands and stuff. Robes probably weren't a good idea. She...can't help but make her glance obvious when Two leans in, and the blush probably spoils any attempt she can make at playing it off.

So, she coughs, and does her best to maintain eye-contact. With tremendous effort.

"Ah...well he's a king from a prophecy. The high king of England, or Avalon, now. He built a great kingdom, and when he died, it was said that he'd return. Y'know, like he has now. When he was most needed."

[breakingvoice]

The giggles built at the back of Two's throat while she spoke; she wasn't stupid, but she knew how to have fun and Claire was obviously enjoying herself, and helping people enjoy themselves was basically Two's entire purpose. Dame Redfield might not have been one of her subjects, but she was a subject, and Two was a ruler, and that was good enough for her.

"Wow, that's quite the prophecy," she said, hanging on every word and squeezing her hands between her knees. "So does that mean all of us are once and future kings, too? I mean, he's the one who brought us all here, right? And it sounds like there's a pretty big need!"

[cameprepared]

Claire was doing her best. The laugh and the posture weren't exactly subtle, and she knew she was being teased, but had the sense to just roll with it. Fine, fine, she was a disaster and making an ass of herself but at least they were both having fun. Right?

"There is a big need, yeah," she nods. "But, ah, no I don't think that makes us once and future kings. Arthur was the one true king, but he did have a court filled with heroes and champions. The Knights of the Round Table were his men, and now I guess we're his men and women? To...find a way to fix reality."

Here she sobers a bit, memories of seeing the void coming to mind.

"That's all true. I've seen the calamity site. It's...well, it's not pretty."

[breakingvoice]

To fix reality. Well, the stakes were a little higher than Two had expected—more the kind of thing to fall on the shoulders of one of a couple of her sisters, really—but that didn't mean she couldn't do her best to help while she could. Her back straightened as she adjusted to the weight of the conversation.

"Well, if it's something like trying to bring the world back from ruin, I'm pretty okay at that, I think," she pondered out loud. "And I might have only just met you, but if you trust King Arthur then I think I can trust him too. He doesn't expect us to handle all of these problems on our own, though, right? Even back home I had a disciple to help me with..." She trailed off, because how could she possibly describe everything that Cent did for her? Without being kicked out of the training grounds for public indecency?

[cameprepared]

It helps. Claire feels like she can actually concentrate now that she isn't being distracted with...well...public indecency.

"You've got experience with repairing worlds, then?"

Just, because that phrase sticks out and that's what she gets out of it. She may as well ask, because if she doesn't, then she'll be left wondering.

"...and no, he doesn't. He's been rebuilding Camelot, the city, and working on keeping order and making treaties with the local fae. Some of the fae are a little hostile, but I think we're getting them to come around."

[breakingvoice]

"Well, I don't think I have a lot of experience repairing worlds," she admitted, trying very hard not to sound embarrassed about it, "But I had to work to repair an entire country that was run to ruin by its last lord. And so did all of my sisters!" She smiled brightly, glad to gloss over all the terrible things that happened afterwards.

"Together we all managed to pull together and make a world that all the people in it could be happy to live in, so I really think that if we all band together, we can do anything here. Even deal with some faeries that definitely love making problems for people." She was just. So on board with the idea of companionship and helping people and... well. Maybe this time would be different if she just willed it to be. "I mean, my sisters and I are just from one world, but you're from somewhere that's probably dealt with its own set of problems, right?"

[cameprepared]

"Oh, sure."

Claire has to laugh at that. She doesn't really know what to say about lords and ruins and stuff. But she's definitely aware of the bazillion problems facing her own world right now. Or, well, when it gets back to where it was.

"We were in the beginnings of an apocalypse, it feels like. But I think it's a solvable one when we get enough people aware. The problem is one we caught early."